in it in an upright position, each one with a clay pot on his head.
This idea was based upon some superficial explorations which had been
made from time to time by curiosity hunters. Their excavations had,
indeed, brought to light pots containing fragments of skulls, but not
buried in the position they imagined. Very extensive explorations made
at different times by myself have shown that only fragments of skulls
and of the long bones of the body are to be found in the mound, and
that these are commonly associated with earthen pots, sometimes whole,
but more frequently broken fragments only. In some instances portions
of the skull were placed in a pot, and the long bones were deposited
in its immediate vicinity. Again, the pots would contain only sand,
and fragments of bones would be found near them. The most successful
'find' I made was a whole nest of pots, to the number of half a dozen,
all in a good state of preservation, and buried with a fragment of
skull, which I take from its small size to have been that of a female.
Whether this female was thus distinguished above all others buried in
the mound by the number of pots deposited with her remains because of
her skill in the manufacture of such ware, or by reason of the unusual
wealth of her sorrowing husband, must remain a matter of conjecture. I
found altogether fragments of skulls and thigh-bones belonging to at
least fifty individuals, but in no instance did I find anything like a
complete skeleton. There were no vertebra, no ribs, no pelvic bones,
and none of the small bones of the hands and feet. Two or three skulls
nearly perfect were found, but they were so fragile that it was
impossible to preserve them. In the majority of instances only
fragments of the frontal and parietal bones were found, buried in pots
or in fragments of pots too small to have ever contained a complete
skull. The conclusion was irresistible that this was not a burial-
place for _the bodies_ of deceased Indians, but that the bones
had been gathered from some other locality for burial in this mound,